Pocket-knife.



J. R. HEATH.

POCKET KNIFE.

APPLICATION FILED 0017,1908.

Patented May 18, 1909;

UNITE JAMES R. HEATH, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

POCKET-KNIFE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 7, 1908.

Patented May 18, 1909.

Serial No. asaeoz.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES R. HEATH, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pocket-Knives, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in pocket knives, and it consists in the novel features hereinafter described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

The object of the invention is to provide a strong durable pocket knife, preferably of the style usually termed jack-knives, which in addition to possessing a large blade and a smaller blade is also, without the addition of any extra or separate tool, capable of use in lifting or removing sealing caps of the crown order from bottles, the knife of my invention being thus without having an increased number of blades or separate parts, of increased usefulness.

In carrying out my invention I make no change in the construction of the knife with the exception that I increase the length of the tang of one of the blades and suitably conform the inner edge of said tang to constitute acap-lifter, said blade when opened thus as an individual tool serving all of its usual purposes and in addition being capable of effectually performing the duties of a caplifter. My invention does not therefore result in an increase in the number of parts in the knife nor materially increase its cost of manufacture, nor deprive the knife of a blade or the space for a blade, but provides a knife of desirable character possessing all its usual features and in addition a capability or usefulness not possessed by any other knife known to me without the presence therein of a separate tool which adds to the expense of the knife and robs it of a blade or the space for a blade.

The invention will be fully understood from the detailed description hereinafter presented, reference being had to the accom panying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a jack-knife embodying my invention, the smaller blade being shown as entirely opened and the large blade as partly opened; Fig. 2 is an edge view of the same, with the larger blade shown as closed; and Fig. 3 is a side elevation illustrating the knife as used in the operation of lifting a crown cap from a bottle. In the drawings I illustrate a durable form of jack-knife, 1O denoting the handle thereof, 11 the large blade and 12 the smaller blade. The knife shown, with the exception of the blade 12, is of customary construction, and the blade 12 differs from the blade 11 and from all other knife blades known to me in that its tang 13 is of increased length and recessed at its front edge, as at 14, to pass over and receive the edge portion of a bottlecap 15 and afford a claw 16 to engage the lower edge of the cap and a bearing 17 to press against the top of the cap. The blade 12 outwardly beyond the recess 14 and bearing 17, is of adequate length and formed with a cutting edge 18. The bearing 17 is preferably formed with a roughened or milled surface so as to increase the firmness of its engagement with the cap and retard any tendency of said bearing to slip thereon when the device is not carefully applied to the cap.

It will be observed that in carrying out my invention I have preserved the customary durable form and construction of the jackknife, but have increased its usefulness in that I have provided the tang 13 of the blade 12 with adequate means for removing bottle caps. The cap lifting feature of the knife is, in accordance with my invention, of great strength in that the tang 13 embracing it is of considerable depth throughout. The presence of the cap lifting feature in the tang of the blade does not interfere with the proper use of the cutting edge 18 for all the purposes for which ordinary knife blades are used, and in the present instance said cutting edge being on the same part with the cap lifter, frequently becomes very convenient, since upon the opening of the one blade, the user has presented for his purposes both a cutting edge of adequate character and the cap lifter. I deem it of considerable importance that the cap lifter is provided on the tang of the blade, since by reason thereof it does not rob the knife of a blade nor occupy the space which is ordinarily occupied by a blade.

My invention results in an increase in the usefulness of the pocket-knife without materially adding to its expense and without increasing its number of separate parts or depriving it of any feature heretofore deemed desirable in pocket knives.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A pocket knife having a blade 12 whose tang 13 is of greater length than usual and formed on its front edge With a recess 14 having at its inner end a claw 16 and at its outer end a projection affording a bearing 17', the blade beyond the tang being of usual charactor for a pocket knife and having its cutting edge 18 set outwardly from the point of the bearing 17 so as to clear the surface of a bottle cap When the tang is employed as a cap lifter; substantially as set forth.

2. A pocket knife having a blade 12 Whose tang 13 is of greater length than usual and formed on its front edge With a recess 14 having at its inner end a claw 16 and at its outer end a projection affording a bearing 17, the blade beyond the tang being of usual character for a pocket knife and having its cutting edge 18 set outwardly from the point of the bearing 17so as to clear the surface of a bottle cap When the tang is employed as a cap lifter, and said bearing having a roughened surface to engage the top of a bottle ca substantially as set forth.

bigned at New York city, in the county of New York, and State of New York, this 5th day of October A. D. 1908.

JAMES R. HEATH.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR MARION, CHAs. O. Gun 

